New economic modeling identifies wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse pulp as cost-competitive alternatives to virgin wood fibre in paper packaging production.
As brands move away from plastic and demand for paper packaging climbs, a new economic modeling report from Canopy shows that pulp made from agricultural residues can help packaging producers reduce their exposure to volatile wood pulp prices. Seeing the Field and the Forest finds that replacing 5–10% of virgin wood pulp with Next Gen pulp made from wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse is a practical, cost-competitive step for mills, brands, and converters to take today.
Growing demand for paper packaging is deepening the industry’s reliance on wood pulp at a time when its cost and supply are increasingly unpredictable. Swings in energy and raw material prices, trade and geopolitical disruptions, climate-linked supply shocks and tighter regulation are all adding environmental and price risk to virgin forest fibre sourcing.
“Mills can pay US$345 to 380 a tonne for wheat straw or sugarcane bagasse pulp and still beat the cost of the wood it replaces, with less exposure to swings in wood prices. That’s a price suppliers can meet today. Packaging companies don’t have to wait for the perfect fibre to start reducing their reliance on forests,” said Kari Stoever, Head of Impact, Canopy.
The report, created in conjunction with Blue Lotus Strategies and Glynmoran, tests whether Next Gen pulp makes business sense for consumer paperboard. It models a commercial relationship between a buyer, such as a global, high-volume consumer goods brand or paperboard converter, and a China-based integrated pulp and paperboard mill. The focus is a demanding, high-performance folding boxboard (FBB) grade: a lightweight, three-layer board with bright white printable front and reverse sides and a strong middle layer that provides bulk and stiffness.
